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From atheism to eternal religion (sanatana-dharma)
Dedication I, Indubhushan das, dedicate this book to my initiating spiritual master His Holiness Bhakti-Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj Introduction My name is Indubhushan das, and I want to write a book which was inspired by my experience talking with "atheist number 1 in Ukraine" Duluman Evgraph. I want to gradually lead the reader from atheistic conception, to conception of eternal religion, which is called in Sanskrit language (holy language of Indian scriptures known as Vedas) sanatana-dharma. 1. Meeting with an atheist #1 First of all, I have to say that I became acquainted with the concept of eternal religion while I was studying in university. One of our teachers was teaching the course "Bhagavad-Gita" in the university. I just came back from India (where I was studying one academic year), so I told that the teacher that I became a vegetarian, and that Lord Krishna also teaches vegetarianism as that is better for anyone who wants to practice yoga-meditation. So the teacher got me acquainted with his vegetarian student from International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). I started attending ISKCON programs on every Sunday, and once went ot one event - "Biggest Vegetarian Cake", organized by ISKCON. There I've bought a Bhagavad-Gita of His Holiness Bhakti-Rakshak Shridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaja (which means "protector of devotion"), and got to know about local Shri Chaitanya Saraswat Math (SCSMath is the organization of Shridhar Maharaja). Very soon I was convinced to take initiation in this tradition - Gaudiya-Vaishnavism. I went to Saint-Peterburg's center of SCSMath, and there was initiated by His Holiness Bhakti-Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaja, who is a selected successor of Shri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Bhakti-Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur - spiritual master of Shridhar Maharaja said that "Religion without philosophy is sentimentalism or sometimes fanaticism, and philosophy without religion is mental speculation". So applied for philosophy/religion courses on philosophy department. However, we had some subjects in which we had to study atheists like Marx, Engels, Lenin, Darwin etc. One teacher told that "Marx was not a bad philosopher". Also we had a subject "History of Mythology" in which Vedic religion, sanatana-dharma was also called "mythology". But religion is not a myth, isn't it? Myth usually means something imaginary or false. But religion is not imaginary nor false. God is not imaginary. I asked another teacher: "Does God exist?" And he answered: "It depends on whom you will ask"... So, that is also wrong. God's existence doesn't depend on oppinion of atheist. Even if atheist will say that "there is no God" or "there are no gods", still God and gods do exist. Somehow I got to know about the dispute between atheists and religious people. I was unable to get to the dispute between atheists and christians, but I came to the dispute between atheists and mulsims. So, the advertisment of the event was saying that on the side of atheists was Duluman Evgraph Kalenikovich - "atheist number one in Ukraine" and former candidate of theology. So just before the dispute I approached Mr. Duluman. We shook hands. 2. Conversation before the dispute I asked Duluman, ex-candidate of theology: Are you Mr. Duluman? Mr. Duluman: It's me, don't you know me? - He told with pride. I: So you are a candidate of theology? Mr. Duluman: Yes, degrees can't be taken away. But he didn't say that the Church had put anathema onto him. He was an atheist for at least 60 years already. I: So, is there God? Mr. Duluman: No, there is no God. I: Well, I was in India and accepted its religion. Their scripture is Bhagavad-Gita. It is spoken by Lord Krishna around 5000 years ago. Lord Krishna said: "give up all kinds of religions (dharmas), but surrender to Me - accept this eternal religion (sanatana-dharma)". So you gave up christianity. Why don't you accept Krishna consciousness instead? It is the topmost, eternal religion. Mr. Duluman: There is no Krishna. Well, I had not idea what to say next. Though I remembered that Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda are more merciful, and they converted atheists into religous people. It is also said that even if atheist would hear their philosophy, he will also become religious, a devotee. I asked: What about Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda? Mr. Duluman: Who are they? I: Chaitanya is the avatara of Lord Krishna, and Nityananda is avatara of His brother - Balarama. Mr. Duluman: No, they also don't exist. I: Don't you want to go to paradise? Mr. Duluman: Did anyone came back from there? I: Yes, of course! Paradise is the heavenly planets of material world, but they are also temporary, material. Prophets like Moses, Jesus and Mohammad came from those temporary heavenly planets. But that 's not the highest destination. Above all material planets, inluding heavenly planetary systems - there are eternal planets, known as Vaikuntha-lokas. And among those planets the topmost planet is Krishnaloka - planet of Lord Krishna. So why don't you want to go there? Mr. Duluman: Well, say if some old woman will read on some fence three letters... At that moment I remembered the words from Bhagavad-Gita. Lord Krishna told there - demons and atheists don't believe in Me, they say that the world appeared from lust (kama), or sex desire. I told Duluman: Krishna is sometimes compared to transcendental Cupid - God of love. It is said that "God is love". Krishna is also sometimes called Kamadeva - God of love or Kama. But in fact He defeats all Gods of love by His beuty. He is called Madana-Mohana - one who bewilders even Mohana - God of love. Duluman was too fanatical and just said: You should go to psychiatrist... 3. Dispute, and after it So, Mr. Duluman went for the dispute muslims. When he was giving the speech, he told: "Allah killed the people. But it is said that to kill is the sin. So Allah is the sinner. Religions is the sin. But we don't kill. We are ethical atheists, not military atheists. Our atheism is holy." I was shocked to hear this kind of speech. I never heard anything like that personally. However, in Bhagavad-Gita Lord Krishna also said: "Demons, atheists say that dharma is adharma, adharma is dharma". Dharma means "religion" or "religious law", "God's law". Adharma means atheism, irreligion or sin. One who thinks like this commits logical mistake. He considers white to be black, and black to be white. After the dispute I again came up to Duluman. I took out Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (the book with comments of ISKCON's founder - His Holiness Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada), and showed Mr. Duluman the picture on which Krishna expands Himself as millions of material universes. I told Duluman: Look, here is Krishna painted. Why do you say there is no Krishna? Duluman laughed: Ha-ha, you can draw just anything! However, he told to his atheistic friends around: He is just siyng "Krishna, Krishna". He is crazy, he should go to psychiatrist. I didn't like that. Still I was feeling like finding out the good side within Mr. Duluman - his side of candidate of theology. But he already told that "there is no Krishna", that "Krishna doesn't exist". I remembered another advertisement for the dispute between Duluman and christians. On that advertisement was depicted Lenin, and he was labled: "Duluman" - "philosopher". So, how can one person be at the same time like Lenin (atheist), and a candidate of theology? I remembered words of Lenin, that he ordered to kill the priests. I wanted to ask Mr. Duluman what did he think about it. I asked Mr. Duluman: Lenin said that "The priests must be killed with machine guns". You are also a priest. What do you think about these words of Lenin? Mr. Duluman replied: Someone like you must be killed with machine guns! I said: Well, Krishna also killed demons. Mr. Duluman said: I don't want to talk with you. I said: I don't say that you are a demon, but an atheist - that's true. But God is also in your heart, your soul. Mr. Duluman: There is no soul. I: What about life after death? Mr. Duluman: There is no life after death, I'll die - that all. Then will be nothing after it. 4. Clericalism: For and against After that dispute I was chanting Hare Krishna mahamantra very strongly. I was afraid that I could be killed, or someone may be killed because Duluman told that someone like me must be killed. This despute was in the autumn 2012, but in winter abnormally much snow fell down in Kiev. I believe it was because Krishna liked that I tried to prove His existence to "atheist #1", and it is said, that if Krishna is satisfied - then demigods are also satisfied, including Indra - god of heavenly planets and rain. However, I met Mr. Duluman once again, on another dispute - "Clericalism: for and against". This time I even had a little speech. My main ideas were: - Krishna is The Supreme Personality of Godhead, He rules over all planets of spiritual and material worlds. He exists. - There are countless material universes. In our universe, it is said, that there are 33'000'000 demigods on higher planets. They also do exist. - Religious people represent God, Krishna. If they are in politics, they would create ideal society. - Krishna consciousness has four regulative principles: 1) no gambling 2) no meat-eating (one should become lactovegetarian, and avoid even onion and garlic) 3) no intoxication (no alcohol, no tobacco/smoking) 4) no illicit sex So I said that if Krishna or His representative would rule some country, there would be: - no gambling organizations - no slaughterhouses - no tobacco and alcohol businesses - no brothels I said: I don't mind if God (Krishna), or any avatar - be that Mohammad, Jesus, Allah or God-Father of Christians etc would rule the country. Mr. Duluman just said that: "Gods don't exist, and are not expected to appear." After a few months he died - exactly on my birthday. I don't know what does it mean. But for me it looks like not just a coincidence - I think that Lord Krishna arranged it. 5. Leninfall and avatars Soon, after Mr. Duluman's death, after around half year, so-called Leninfall started. Yanukovish, president of Ukraine, refused to sign an agreement with European Union, and people in Kiev (capital of Ukraine) went out on the streets for the protest. People fell down the Lenin's monument in the center of Kiev. Leader of communist party of Ukraine, Peter Simonenko, said: "We are not going to punish people for destroying Lenin's monument. God already punished those people, taking their minds away." Then in February 2014 around 100 people were killed near on the center of Kiev. they were killed heavenly hundred. Many people were injured. Lutsenko, who was called "an avatar" was also beaten. Hennadiy Kernes said: "Lutsenko called himself avatar. But avatar is robot." It is true that avatar, in computers, is a name of robot - that is the concept of artificial intelligence. John McCarthy was an atheist who labeled some more or less intelligent code in computers, which imitates activities of some living creatures to be artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence can be called Brahman. In vedic philosophy, especially in the school of Shankaracharya, it is said that "everything is Brahman". Brahman means consciousness. So everything comes from consciousness, God, and thus matter, which is God's energy is also more or less divine, is also Brahman. In Bhagavad-Gita (14:3) Lord Krishna says that "Maha-brahman is the total material substance, that I impregnate". In one vaishnava sampradaya (disciplic succession) it is said, that this Maha-brahman means Krishna's wife (Radharani). So, more strictly speaking, Artificial Intelligence is Maha-brahman or its form. Anyway, after "heavenly hundred" was killed in Kiev, Yanukovich was scared and ran away. President was changed. Crimea voted for union with Russia, and Lugansk and Donesk People's Republics claimed their independence. So people were killed with machine guns etc, like Lenin or Mr. Duluman told. I personally conclude, that some people linked to Mr. Duluman are somewhere in politics, and they are ruling those DNR (Donets National Republic) and LNR (Lugansk National Republic) and kill people there. However, I can be wrong. During the year around 500 Lenin monuments were fallen down in Ukraine. That was called Leninfall. 6. Kama and akama Vedas say that there are four aims of life: Kama, Artha, Dharma and Moksha. Bhakti-yoga, devotional service to Lord Krishna (Rama, Narayana, Vishnu etc) is also an aim of life. 1) Kama. What is Kama? Kama means desire. Kamadeva is God of love, God of desire. He is also known as Cupid, Amur or even Erot. Sometimes Krishna is also called Kamadeva, though not ordinary, but transcendental. Krishna has no lusty desires. It is true that He had many wifes, but they are all goddesses Laxmi. And all Lakshmis are wives of Narayana. Lakshmis are expansions of Radharani, wife of Krishna. Each of many wifes of Lord Krishna gave birth to 10 sons, but that should not be imitated. Lord Krishna built a castle for each of His wives. As already said, atheists say that everything comes from sex. Not from God of love, but from impersonal sex, impersonal love. But this cannot be true. In christianity, first people are Adam and Eve, but they are created by Christian God. However, Vedas say that there were other people before Adam and Eve. It doesn't mean that first people were monkies like Darwin say, nor it is true that first people were some other lower forms of life. We can conclude, that saying that before Adam and Eve were other people like monkies - that is adharma, irreligion. But to say that before Adam and Eve were other Manus - that is dharma, that is religious. If one rejects one scripture, he should accept other, higher scripture instead. Otherwise he will fall down to level of atheism. So, strictly speaking Kama is a desire towards Lord Krishna. Not sex desire, but desire to serve Him as a friend. Sex desire is wrong. One of the principles of religion is to avoid sex - licit or illicit, both. Indians say that meat-eating encourages illicit sex. So, Kama is one of aims of life. That should be understood properly. That is only for grihasthas, who can give birth to Krishna conscious children. Otherwise, Kama is not the aim of life. Aim is akama - to become free from sex desires. 7. Artha and anartha Another aim of life is Artha. Artha means treasure, wealth or just money. What is real Artha? Real Artha is service towards Lord Krishna and His devotees. Lord Krishna is Bhagavan, - One, who possesses all the riches, all wealth. Laxmi is wife of Bhagavan Narayana, and She is Goddess of both spiritual and material wealth. That includes money also. It is even called laxmi, if that is used in service of God. But what happens to all the riches which belong originally to God, Lord Krishna? That wealth is taken away by some atheists. Just like there are communist parties all over the world, and their main philosophy is atheism (Marxism-Leninism etc). In some sense, atheists are demons or asuras. Asura, demon Ravana once took away Lord Rama's wife - Sita. That is like taking Laxmi from Narayana. No demon or atheist should take money or laxmi (Laxmi) away from Narayana. That is the sin and anartha. So nowadays, there are many economic resources misused, because they are in hands of atheists and non-devotees, non-vaishnavas. That is called Anartha. Anartha is something undesirable. Anartha is an obstacle on the spiritual path. For a person or society - both. For example, there are slaughterhouses used to kill animals for "eatable" meat, there are fields used to grow tobacco and make cigarettes of it, there are alcohol factories etc. - Meat The worst is that such sinful activities are legalized in different countries. Meat-eating is even sponsored by ministries of health. Citizens pay taxes to government, but government has anartha - undesirable quality: they use that money, collected from citizens (also, including religious people) to support meat businesses. They buy meat in slaughterhouses, and that is provided as food in schools, universities, hospitals etc - that is definitely wrong! Millions of dollars are spent yearly on such sinful activities. It is the anartha of society, anartha of government. Society should have a head - saints, vaishnavas, devotees of The Supreme Lord (Krishna), but now it is "headless". In all countries there are communist parties in ploitics, which support these kind of sins. But even so-called religious parties - christian political parties, jewish or muslim political parties - they do not try to stop meat-eating. They are happy with that Jahweh, God of Torah, told Moses that people can eat meat, even cows, so this sin of meat-eating, cow-killing is now called religion. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura said that children are sent to "slaughterhouses of education." There are different institutions, in which people who support meat-eating are working. They write books that "meat is healthy", that "medicine prooved that meat is better vegetarianism" etc. But that is all false and sinful propaganda, anartha and aparadha. Of course, that makes money for people who interested in this. Politicians support meat-eaters and don't try to stop slaughterhouses, to close them. But that is wrong. In fact, politicians are themselves meat-eaters, so how can they close slaughterhouses. They think, that without meat they will die. But that is false. They think that without meat they will live shorter life and will become unhealthy. But that is also false. Unfortunately, those people follow some form of religion - jewdaism, christianity, islam etc, which supports meat-eating in the scriptures. And if one says that one should become vegetarian, he would reply - "no, I will eat meat, because scripture allows it." His Holiness A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada had enough courage to write in his book, Chaitanya Charitamrita, that the scriptures of meat-eaters, - Torah, Bible and Quran are not eternal. People who know philosophy and science (say, medicine), become disappointed with these scriptures, as they are controversial. In one places they forbid meat-eating, but in other places they allow it. Unfortunately, most followers of abrahamic religions don't accept vegetarianism. They may fast sometimes, and on those days that probably don't eat meat, fish or even eggs - become vegetarians for some short time. But then they again take to meat-eating, so that is anartha, sin. Unfortunately, some people who are "preaching" meat-eating are even considered saints. Like Moses. He said that Yahweh allowed killing and eating cows. Of course, God told Moses: "you should not kill," but it looks like most people of abrahamic religions think that only means that killing people is not allowed. But in reality, killing any living being, except plant, is a sin. Animals, fish, birds - they all have souls. In some next life they can become humans. So, why kill animals? Why eat fish or birds? That is more or less same as killing humans. Animals, birds, fish - they are like children. Human baby also behaves not very intelligently - he or she is cannot talk like humans, while being a baby. And animals also cannot talk. But human babies will grow and will learn to talk. Animals will also reincarnate and will become humans who can talk. So animals and humans are more or less same intelligent living beings. It is said in Bhagavad-Gita: wise man sees brahmana (one who knows God, Brahman), dog-eater and a dog on the same level. Animals, fish, birds are as divine and holy form of life - just like humans are. Animals, fishes and birds are friends of humans. People should love their friends, not eat them. Real love doesn't mean that a person eats object of love. India as a country has real wealth, real Artha. India has laws in some states in which killing cows is prohibited. If one kills a cow there - he can be imprisoned for several years. Cow is treated practically as human in India. Another Artha of India is Bhagavan - God. That God is Vishnu, though His other names are Krishna, Rama, Narayana, Buddha. India is still the country in which vegetarianism is common. If anywhere one wants to eat something, he will be asked: "do you want non-vegetarian food, or vegetarian?" So everyone has a choice - whether he wants to eat meat and commit sin (go to hell) by doing it, or he wants to be vegetarian and not to commit sin. Of course, being vegetarian is is also related to little violence. Plants are also living beings, they are souls embodied in the bodies of plants. And killing any living being is a sin - bigger or smaller. So, to get rid of the sin of killing living being, a plant (of course, soul is not killed, it just leaves the body), one has to offer that plant on altar to guru and Krishna, while chanting Hare Krishna (Radhe Krishna) mahamantra. But the meat cannot be offered to Lord Krishna (Narayana, Vishnu). - Tobacco and alcohol Smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol is not such dangerous activity, comparing to meat-eating. But it is also unhealthy and sinful. Politicians allow selling meat, tobacco and alcohol, and they don't try to stop it. Politicians themselves smoke tobacco and drink alcohol - what can be done? Politician should be like a doctor. If he wants that body, soceity to be healthy, he should ban any meat, tobacco and alcohol business. 8. Dharma Категория:My English Books